Ohio State football: Urban Meyer suspends Tracy Sprinkle

Ohio State football player Tracy Sprinkle was suspended by coach Urban Meyer yesterday in the wake of a massive bar fight in northeastern Ohio early Saturday morning.

Sprinkle, 19, was charged with cocaine possession, rioting and failure to disperse after the fight, which Lorain police described as a riot. He was held in Lorain City Jail, a jail official said.

The move to suspend Sprinkle from the team was not made until yesterday morning by Meyer, who is on vacation, but it was expected. Meyer has continually stressed to his players to “walk away” from trouble.

Officers said “it was clear” that Sprinkle had been fighting with another man, and they ordered Sprinkle to leave the scene. Sprinkle, however, became involved in another scuffle and was arrested.

Paraphrasing Meyer, OSU spokesman Jerry Emig said that Sprinkle’s future with the team “will be determined following the completion of this case.”

The cocaine was not found on Sprinkle, but rather was discovered stuffed behind the back seat of a police car in which he had been placed after the fight.

Police acknowledged another arrested person had been in the vehicle before Sprinkle. The officer searched the car after the first person’s release and had found no drugs, police said.

Sprinkle, a member of the 2013 recruiting class who did not play last season as a true freshman, was expected to compete for playing time this fall.

At 2 a.m. Saturday, officers responded a report of a large fight in progress. The first officer observed about 50 people outside the bar, with “large pockets of people fighting in the parking lot.”

As one group would disperse, another would form to fight, the officer wrote.

“In addition to the fights that were currently happening in the east and west parking lot, I had a clear vision inside the bar and could see absolute mayhem going on inside,” an officer wrote. “A large amount of people could be seen fighting inside with chairs being thrown.”